North Jetty (Hikkaduwa) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, mates, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you: the next couple of weeks are looking pretty grim for a proper paddle. This ain't gonna be one of those weeks where you're scrambling for a board. We’ve got a long stretch of poor conditions ahead, so let’s break it down.

Right off the bat, the surf is on offer, but it’s ugly. The wind is stuck in the west, blowing cross-onshore and chopping up everything. The water’s warm, around 82°, which is about normal for this time of year, so at least you won’t need a hood.

Friday the 14th kicks off with some tiny 2ft SW groundswell, but the wind’s howling at 15 mph and it’s just messy. The energy is weak at 449. Forget it. Saturday the 15th bumps up a bit to 5ft, but that period drops to 7 seconds – that’s just wind slop, and the energy, while moderate at 568, is all over the place. The west wind is still messing it up.

We keep grinding through this pattern. Sunday and Monday are poor. Then on Monday afternoon the 17th, the energy jumps to 1282, and Tuesday the 18th we finally see some real groundswell, 7ft from the SSW with a 19-second period. The energy is strong, reading 3495. But here’s the kicker: the wind is still cross-onshore, ruining the surface. It’s a lot of juice, but it’s all chopped up. Not worth paddling out.

The standouts, if you can even call them that, come on Tuesday afternoon the 18th and Wednesday the 19th. The swell stays solid at 7ft to 7ft from the SSW with a long period (19s and 17-18s). The energy is strong at 3288 and 2774. But again, the cross-onshore wind keeps it from being clean. North Jetty (Hikkaduwa) is a point break, so it can handle some size, but this onshore mess just makes it a battle. The swell direction is from the SSW, which is close to the optimum SW, but the wind is just wrong.

Honestly, there are no clean, glassy windows here. The second week into late August is more of the same: moderate SSW swell, plenty of energy, but always with that W or WNW wind chopping it up. The periods are long, which means better shaped waves at the point, but you’re going to be fighting the chop all the way. It’s not going to be fun.

There’s nothing here that stands out as a must-surf. No clean offshore days, no magic windows. It’s just a lot of water moving with a bad wind on it.

If you’re desperate, the size is there, but the conditions are not. This is more a week for watching the horizon and hoping the wind gods change their minds. I’ll be keeping an eye on it, but for now, I’d leave the board in the car.

Rusty, signing off.

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